Our friends, Mike and Kathi, broached the subject once again. “You guys really should think about coming with us on this Tuscany biking trip.” As I lowered my head and peered at them over my sunglasses, I remember musing: “Are you insane?” “We’ll think about it,” is what came out of my lips.

I raised my children in a blur. I was in my early twenties when they were born and divorced before they started school. I completed college, launched a career and elbowed my way up the career ladder–rung by rung–as a single mother. Needless to say, transferring values was the last thing on my mind, followed closely by teachable moments. Survival was the order of the day.

Over the course of history humans have embarked on adventures and expeditions to discover new territories, gain wisdom and question the known. In the 1200s Marco Polo was the first explorer to set out on a ground-breaking journey to Asia and China. The Portuguese Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India. Sir Francis Drake was the first to circumnavigate the world in 1580. But it wasn’t until the mid-1800s that adventurers began to push the limits of mountain climbing and river rafting, ascending famous peaks and mountain passes, inspiring people to attempt their own expeditions and experience the unknown.

Why do you take Backroads trips? This is a question that Trip Leaders often ask guests on the first night of the trip, along with why you chose that particular trip. Although highly valuable questions, as a Backroads leader, I’m more interested in asking a third question at the end of the trip: How has your week with us influenced your life? I, as well as my colleagues, wonder what our guests will take with them and incorporate into their lives back home.

Who comes to mind when you think of a superager? I think of Roxy, who signed up for a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon at the age of 74. The trip leader was concerned that the excursion might be too wild for her (based solely on her age) but she completed it without incident and immediately embarked on an expedition to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. Here are three tips to become a superaging superpower.

When you go on an epic trip, such as my recent Backroads adventure, there’s often a special experience that defines the trip. It’s usually not the obvious one you gravitated to in the catalog or on the website. It may even seem inconsequential at the time, but then expands in meaning until it becomes the primary signifier of the trip. If you’re very lucky, you return with something you can hold in your hand to remember the magic of the moment.

Not a single complaint. Not even a sibling spat. Not while we’re biking in sweltering 100-degree weather. And not while we’re biking in a downpour. “I’ve never seen 30 people volunteer to bike in the rain, and smile about it,” said my daughter, Reggie Foldes. Anyone who has traveled with kids knows it’s rare–very rare–for such amiability on a family vacation. “We’re usually arguing about everything, even where to eat,” said Jenna Bronfman, 18. That’s one reason why her parents and the other families had signed on for this Backroads trip for families with “Older Teens and 20-Somethings” in Europe. “Backroads takes all that stress away,” explained Jenna’s dad, Matt Bronfman, noting this is his family’s fourth Backroads trip.

In May, my wife and I traveled to Tuscany & Umbria with Backroads. It was our 23rd trip with our favorite active travel company. A question often asked by fellow travelers is, what keeps you coming back? Simply put, Backroads is special. Backroads is family. Anyone can place you on a nice bike, take you to beautiful places and feed you good food. Backroads is an immersion experience in the sights, sounds, tastes, history and culture of a region. They do impeccable research for their cycling and hiking routes and their support is exceptional. Not only are Backroads leaders accomplished at their jobs, they are delightful, wonderful humans whom we have befriended on many occasions. Like minds are drawn to like experiences, so it’s not surprising that we have found some of our best friends on Backroads trips. Friends we still travel with, commune with, do life with.

“We’re going up over that hill?” I said under my breath, looking ahead as the road went up, up, up and disappeared over a hill. It was a beautiful sunny day in Nova Scotia, Canada, ten years ago, and we had been riding on quiet, shady roads all morning. More talking than riding, I had slowly been getting tired during the ride, but I knew we were almost at our destination for the day, Lunenburg. I hadn’t been mentally preparing for this hill though.

Well, I’m not a writer, and I’ve been asked to write about how I met my husband. I’ll tell it to you straight, as I have so many times before–including to a woman who subsequently followed in my exact footsteps and meet her own future husband in the exact same fashion!

My husband and I love to travel. Years ago, we were on a trip to Paris and we took a day excursion to the Loire Valley. As we traveled by bus through the countryside, I was stunned by the beauty yet dismayed to be seeing it from a bus. We are active people and I was sure there had to be a better way!

I’ve been fortunate enough to have taken a considerable number of Backroads trips. Friends will therefore not infrequently ask me how to choose among the selection of trips Backroads offers. My first response is to choose one at random. Every Backroads trip is excellent! But that answer usually isn’t wholly satisfying to folks. So let me present some other criteria I’ve used to differentiate among trip options.

The vastness and beauty of Norway’s fjords and lands are beyond description and must be experienced to be appreciated. Backroads took our group to areas of Norway most tours and visitors will never see. Every detail was planned and balanced with enough free time and choice of daily hikes depending on how one felt that day. This trip was perfect for our group of seven women, giving us the freedom to simply enjoy Norway, have fun and create memories together.

When I decided to embark on my first Backroads adventure, I was not a biker. I was not even particularly athletic. I was a 24-year-old, newly single teacher in Tampa, Florida. I had just spent months planning the June wedding of my dreams, but I knew something was not right. I called off my engagement and was at a loss of what to do with my newfound freedom. My summer of 1988 was now wide open.